May 2018

TV: Tennis

Caroline Wozniacki and Daria Gavrilova meet in the first round of the 2018 tennis Madrid Masters.

Caroline Wozniacki has been up and down since winning the Australian Open, as she’s split her last eight matches overall and retired in the Istanbul Cup due to an abdominal injury. It will be interesting to see if Wozniacki is capable of flipping the switch here in one of the bigger non grand slam tournaments of the season. While clay has never been her best surface, Wozniacki should thrive on this slow court due to her defense and coverage. Unfortunately, she hasn’t had the best track record in this tournament. Wozniacki hasn’t lost in the first round of the Madrid Masters since 2013. Wozniacki has won six of her last eight matches on clay court.

Daria Gavrilova enters this tournament losing four of her last six matches and is 1-2 on clay surface this season. Gavrilova also had to retire in the third set of Prague due to a foot injury, so who knows what type of health she’s in at this point. Gavrilova hasn’t exactly looked great since making the semifinals of the Mexican Open, and her service numbers have fallen off a cliff in recent matches. Gavrilova isn’t a player you should be looking to back at the moment. Gavrilova has nine career wins over top-10 players, but only two of those have taken place since last year. Gavrilova has lost four of her last five matches on clay court.

These two have met once, a match in Doha in 2016, and Wozniacki won in straight sets. The match took 18 games to be decided.

We have two players who may not be 100 percent healthy and are struggling to find their form. However, Wozniacki has had far more success this season overall and Gavrilova has been brutal in past clay matches. The fact thesis also a big tournament and right around the corner from the French Open, Wozniacki should be motivated to get back on track and put some confident wins together.

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